"As soon as you can, Cat. The list, it's a ..... kind of a ...... poisoned chain letter. It's not just a list. It's a hitlist."

"Slow down Keke. You look manic. Too much caffeine?"

"I'm not fucking around, Kirsten, you need to listen to me. It's a HITLIST. You are ON IT. Someone wants you dead. You need to leave your apartment."

"You're not making any sense. Why would anyone want to kill me?"

Ooh, tell me more!

In tomorrow's world prowls a creative - and ruthlessly efficient - assassin who won't stop until Kirsten is killed. A troubled woman approaches Kirsten with a warning and a key and is later found dead. Was the woman just another victim of the Suicide Contagion or is there something more sinister at play? The key leads Kirsten to the Doomsday Vault and a hit list of seven people - and her barcode is on it. Edgy and original, Why You Were Taken is a dark cinematic thriller that will keep you guessing till the last page. Goodreads

Let's join Gilion @ Rose City Reader now for Book Beginnings. Every Friday we share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

I hope to start with Hushed by Joanne MacGregor in the next week or so. Not my typical reading preference, but The Little Mermaid has always been my favorite first-runner-up Fairytale Princess (Belle as the Queen of course). So let's give this one a try!

The trick in life, I think, is to figure out what you truly want and then go all out to get it. And what I want, more than anything else, is the Beast.

Nope, I am not confused with Beauty and the Beast here. This is The Little Mermaid.

* Hushed - a modern romance inspired by the classic tale of The Little Mermaid*Would you sacrifice your voice for love?18-year-old Romy Morgan desperately longs to escape the boring future her parents have planned for her, and explore the world.When she saves her celebrity crush, superstar Logan Rush, from drowning, Romy is offered a job as his personal assistant. She strikes a deal to reinvent herself in exchange for entering the exciting world of the movies, and love sparks between her and this prince of Hollywood. But Romy soon discovers that she has traded her voice and identity for an illusion of freedom.When she discovers a dreadful secret with the power to destroy Logan, Romy must choose between love, revenge and finding her own, true element.If you like contemporary young adult romance with all the feels - and a twist of humor - then you’ll love this refreshingly modern and realistic spin on the classic tale of The Little Mermaid from award-winning YA author, Joanne Macgregor.

Note: this is not a fantasy novel – the only tails, fins and flippers in the story are those on sharks and whales! Goodreads

As always, I will also be joining the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Ramblings of a coffee addicted writer. Every week they will pop a question that you need to answer. Post your answer to your blog, enter your post to the linky provided, make yourself a cup of coffee and go visit the other blogs in the list.

Today's questions: Would you stop reading a book if an element of the plot strongly clashed with your personal beliefs, or would you continue reading until you finished the book?

My Answer: Good question! Personal beliefs can be categorized in many different things: Religion, Politics, Morality, Sports etc. In the line of my work, I've dealt with many parents who forbid their children to read Harry Potter on the grounds of religious beliefs (but the other books with witches and vampires and werewolves are okay - nothing wrong with that. Just not Harry Potter). I don't have children, but yes - I do belief that parents need to have an open mind, heart and eye when it comes to the books their children read. I'll strongly suggest that you read the book yourself first before you judge a book by it's cover and popular beliefs. If you are not a child or don't have to worry about all the horrible sins of this world, I will suggest that you go with your "inner voice" when reading a book and deciding if it clashes with your personal beliefs. I am a Christian, but I don't easily get offended in a book. Morality is a different ball-game for me however. DO NOT let it slide. I will throw the book against the wall. If you want to teach me a lesson, or make a point, or it's just satirical, or even if you want to challenge me - go ahead. I'll read it with pleasure and ponder the prose. But I don't care for books where that what is wrong, no matter your beliefs, are just sliding through the story. I guess you need an example now.... According to Yes by Dawn French ended up against the wall. Did not pick it up and did not finish it.Has that ever happened to you? What was your reason?

Ohh great blog hop answer you are much stronger than me reading books that clashes with your beliefs. I do read dark books but I don't read over the top dark or taboo books, because I know it will upset me and make me very uncomfortable to read. I do consider myself an open minded reader but sometimes I have to say no too books that are against my beliefs. Have a great weekend and happy blog hopping.

Thank you Katiria! I have a lot of respect and admiration for people who know when something is wrong and then make the choice to walk away. So I'm not necessarily stronger, my boundary might just be a bit further than yours!

For starters your use of Murder She Wrote gifs makes me happier than I can say. Jessica Fletcher is my favorite! I like your answer and found the part about children's books especially interesting. I was volunteering at the school book fair when a man strode in and starting loudly berating us for allowing his child to buy a book with witches in it. 1. We are volunteers and none of us were there that day. 2. It's a big school and not all of the volunteers know your particular reading issues so maybe you should talk to your child about what you expect and 3. You may have just found the best way to get your kid to start reading books about witches and anything paranormal but you just won't know about it. I like your point about letting the morality slide. That bothers me too and will have me putting down the book (but not throwing it at the wall because it's probably my Kindle).

I can't agree with you more about not judging a book unless you have read it. It is one of my major pet peeves when someone puts down a book and says no one should read it and yet hasn't read it.

There have been books I have been tempted to throw against the wall, but not enough to stop reading--not because they make me angry anyway. Of those books that I ended up liking less because of something I disagreed with, it was always because it was either normalized or glossed over.

oh I'm not a super fan of retelling BUT I do have a weakness for The Little Mermaid!! So looking forward to your review :) I'm trying to get through my ARCs these week which are mostly Sci-Fi and contemporary at this point because I haven't gotten over my fantasy poisoning due to overexposure ;-)

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About Me

I'm from South Africa and just as much as I love to see the Big Five in their natural habitat, I love to see words in their natural habitat - BOOKS. As an avid Book Explorer, I'll explore just about any genre, but my preferred grazing fields are: Mystery & Suspense; Crime & Thriller; Historical Fiction; Literary Fiction and Christian. I started my own book blog in April 2016 and so far it's been one of the greatest safaris ever!

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